A voice seemed to call out to him from a thousand leagues away or perhaps from the past. “My Thane, is everything alright?”
“What? Oh yes, I’m fine,” Rez mumbled as he shook away the emotions that seemed to overtake him. “We need to get these bodies moved to Windhelm. I’ll leave that to you men. Also, check the area for anything out of place. Don’t spend to long searching though. The mind has a way of turning things into evidence when there is none to be found.” He hopped onto his horse and spoke again. “Ralof, come with me.”
As Ralof and Rez headed down the path, Rez’ thoughts once again turned to Riverwood. “How has your sister been doing?”
“Well. She’s still running the mill with Hod. Ulfric has sent a lot of business their way. Lots of wood has been needed lately for houses and repairs from the war. I wanted to ask you something. How are things back in Hammerfell?”
“Negotiations with High Rock were going very well when I left. The treaty will probably be signed any day now. When that happens, we will finally be able to make a true stand against the Imperials.”
“That’s good to hear, but what will that mean for us Northerners?”
“We will burn that bridge when we come to it Ralof. For now, all we need to know is that we are faithful to our cause and that should see us through. Back to your sister, I was planning on a stop in Riverwood before we go to Whiterun.”
“That sounds good to me. I haven’t seen her in a few months. When Ulfric offered me Galmar’s old job, I knew I would have to sacrifice a lot of time with my family.”
“Where’s Galmar?”
“Oh, I forgot that you haven’t been here. He is in Sovngarde now. He turned ill two months ago. He caught the Wither and it just went downhill from there. He went out fighting though. I, along with Ulfric and a few others, went with him to look for some Imperials that were rumored to be near Winterhold. When we got there, all the soldiers were dead, but the trolls that killed them were still there. We killed most of them, but the last two went for Ulfric. Galmar laughed at them as he threw down his axe, grabbed both of them and pulled them away from Ulfric and off of the glacier with him. We could not believe our eyes. It took us hours to climb down, but we finally found his body. He had a smile on his face. Ulfric said some words for him and then we pushed his body out into the Sea of Ghosts.”
“A noble death,’ Rez remarked. “He died for his King.”
“No. He died for his friend.” With that, they continued silently along the path until they reached Riverwood. “I will try to be quick, but I’m sure Gerdur…”
Rez cut him off, “Take as much time as you want. I have some friends to see while I’m here. Good luck with your sister.”
“Thanks. I will probably need it,” said Ralof as he headed towards the mill. Rez rode his horse to the post outside of the Riverwood Trader and tied it there. Before seeing Lucan, he looked at the houses to the right of him. Sven and his mother’s house had not been rebuilt since it burned down. He could see right through the remains to Faendal’s house, which remained empty. After a deep breath, he entered the Riverwood Trader. He could see Lucan behind the counter as he always was when Rez walked in. “Hello Lucan.”
“Let me know if you have any….” Lucan stopped mid-sentence. He looked up and saw the Redguard standing before him. “Rez’Aleem? Is it truly you?”
“It is Lucan. It is.”
“Wow. How long has it been? Almost sixteen months now I think.”
“That it has.” Lucan stepped out from behind the counter and walked over to Rez. He embraced him and pulled away before embracing him again. This time, however, he held on for a long time. When he finally pulled away, there was a tear in Luncan’s eye. “I never… I never did thank you for what you did.”
“Lucan, you should not thank me for that. It was wrong what I did. The whole thing was wrong. Sometimes I think that this is all a bad dream and I’ll wake up and come out of my room in the Sleeping Giant to eat breakfast with you, your sister and Faendal.”
“I would give up everything I owned to bring them back for just a single day Rez. But they are still dead and nothing can change that. You should not dwell on the past. Now, what can I help you with?”
“I just came to say hello and ask if I can see their graves. May I?”
“Of course you can. They are buried just across the river near the waterfall. Camilla always liked that spot. Faendal asked her to marry him there you know.”
“I did. I guess there wasn’t really a question of what to do with them. Neither of them were Nords, so the crypt in Whiterun was out of the question.”
“And they both felt at home here. No need to send them back to their ancestral home. I’m not sure if Faendal even had family in Valenwood that we could have contacted.”
“He didn’t.” Those were the last words that Rez said to Lucan before leaving the store. He crossed the small bridge leading to the mill and proceeded to walk through the water towards the waterfall. When Rez saw the headstone, he fell to his knees in front of it and tears flooded his eyes. The stone read:
Here lies Faendal and Camilla
Together Forever in Aetherius
Memories started to flood his mind and then they overtook him. He was there again.
